


laughter is bitter to the burned mouth

by tigriswolf



Series: meme fics [16]
Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Brothers, Child Abuse, F/M, Gen, M/M, Protectiveness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-31
Updated: 2012-08-31
Packaged: 2017-11-13 05:55:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/500226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tigriswolf/pseuds/tigriswolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Finn's just settled in with a <i>Transformers</i> marathon when someone knocks on the door. </p><p>[slight AU during season 3]</p>
            </blockquote>





	laughter is bitter to the burned mouth

**Author's Note:**

> Title: laughter is bitter to the burned mouth  
> Fandom: Glee  
> Disclaimer: not my characters; title from Denise Levertov  
> Warnings: AU during season 3; mentions of child abuse  
> Pairings: Kurt/Blaine, Finn/Rachel, Burt/Carole  
> Rating: PG  
> Wordcount: 1170  
> Point of view: third  
> Prompt: Finn's the only one home when Blaine shows up with a black eye, dried blood on his face, and a suitcase. Bonus if Finn attempts to make Blaine warm milk because Kurt's convinced him it was healing powers.

Finn's just settled in with a _Transformers_ marathon when someone knocks on the door. He heaves a huge sigh, sets aside his bowl of popcorn and gets up, dragging his feet on the way to the door.

Burt and Mom are at a fundraiser, and Kurt's out on a girl-date with Rachel, Mercedes, and Tina. If any one of 'em had been home, Finn would be learning all about the All-Spark right now. (Which, fine, okay, he already knows all about it. But it's still awesome!)

He swings open the door, trying to decide if he should be _helpful Congressman's stepson_ or _belligerent, annoyed teenager_ , and then he sees who's standing there.

"Blaine?" he asks, tilting his head. "Kurt's not here, dude." 

There's a duffle slung over his shoulder. All of his weight's on one foot. He doesn't raise his head as he asks, "Can I please come in? I won't get in your way, or bother you, just... please."

Finn frowns at him. He has to admit, he still doesn't like Blaine all that much, but Blaine's a good guy. He's awesome to Kurt. And, yeah, he hogs the spotlight, but so does Rachel. At least Blaine tries to share it, sometimes. 

"Sure," Finn says, stepping back. "I'm watching _Transformers_." 

"Thank you," Blaine murmurs, but he still doesn't look up as he limps into the house.

.

Blaine goes straight upstairs and into Kurt's room, gently shutting the door behind him. 

Finn tries calling Kurt, but his phone's off.

He looks longingly at the TV and his nest on the couch, then trudges into the kitchen to make that warm-milk stuff Kurt always brings him. 

As he carefully carries two boiling-hot mugs up the stairs, he realizes that the sound he's hearing is muffled sobs. 

Well, fuck. 

He pauses on the top stair, caught between going back downstairs and waiting for someone else to deal with this - _whatever_ this is - or taking care of it himself. He's got warm milk, after all. Whenever Kurt gives it to him, it solves all their problems. 

And Blaine, well. Isn't he a part of Kurt, now? 

Finn nods, resolved. He'll fix this, just like he did Sectionals. 

He walks up the door and calls softly, "Hey, Blaine? I brought you some milk. Wanna open the door?" 

Finn counts the seconds; it takes over a minute before Blaine opens the door. He still won't look up at Finn, and he's wearing Kurt's favorite pajamas. "Finn," he says, "I'm really tired." 

"Here," Finn says, holding out a mug. "Talk to me, dude. I can help."

Blaine laughs; it's bitter, and sharp, and Finn flinches back as Blaine raises his head. 

Blaine has a pretty bad black eye, a split lip, and there's still some blood at his hairline that he must have missed. All his weight's on his left foot again, and now that he's not holding the duffle, Finn can see the way he's holding his left arm, up tight against his ribs.

"Who was it?" Finn demands, almost spilling the milk before he catches himself. 

He's shocked at how angry he is. But - Blaine is _Kurt's_ , and what's Kurt's is Finn's. That's how brothers work. 

"It doesn't matter," Blaine says tiredly. "Please, just... let me rest. You can't do anything, Finn."

Finn stares at him. He’s never really known what to make of Blaine. Before the dude transferred and started hogging all the attention in glee, he liked him well enough. Sure, it was weird that Kurt was fawning over him all the time before Blaine noticed how awesome Kurt was, but at least Blaine did eventually return his feelings. Sometimes, Finn still wishes he was even a little gay, because Kurt is an awesome boyfriend. And Blaine knew about the Karofsky thing before anyone else did, and apparently, tried to fix it, but couldn’t. (Which, duh. Blaine’s a little guy, even if he _did_ start a Fight Club at Dalton.) But he hurt Kurt a lot, too. And that’s not cool. 

_Like you haven’t_ , a voice that sounds suspiciously like Puck hisses in his mind, so Finn shakes his head. “What happened?” he asks, carefully pushing his way past Blaine and setting the mugs on Kurt’s desk. He straightens, crosses his arms, and looks down at Blaine, trying for Mom’s _talk to me_ face.

It doesn’t work, and Blaine glares up at him. “You can’t help,” he says in voice Finn hasn’t heard him use before, not even when he was pounding that bag. “I want to sleep and wait for my boyfriend, so fuck off, Finn.”

Finn’s eyes widen. He didn’t know Blaine could cuss. He’s always so… happy. And bouncy. “You should call your parents, at least,” Finn says, trying not to be hurt. Kurt also lashes out sometimes, and it’s not Finn he’s mad at. And at least Blaine doesn’t know any of Finn’s secrets to use against him. Somehow, Kurt knows them all. 

Blaine laughs that awful laugh again. “Calling my parents won’t help,” he says. “If anything, that’ll make things exponentially worse.”

Finn isn’t sure what ‘exponentially’ means, but the rest… 

Blaine has a duffle bag. He’s beaten up. He doesn’t want to go home or call his parents. 

Finn may be dumb, but he’s not stupid. And he can’t deal with this. He wishes he could, but he got Quinn kicked out her house once, and Puck taught him that the best thing to do when a friend needs sanctuary is to give it. Telling adults doesn’t always work – most of the time, in fact, it doesn’t. But Burt… he’s the coolest guy Finn’s ever met. 

“Drink your milk,” Finn says, slipping past Blaine to leave the room. “Get some rest.” 

Blaine watches him with wary eyes, the anger drained out of him. “What’re you gonna do?” he asks.

Shrugging, Finn says, “Watch _Transformers_ and wait for Kurt to come home.” He pauses in the hall, turning. “You should tell Burt.” 

Blaine looks away. “I don’t want to cause trouble,” he murmurs. “I just need…” 

_Somewhere safe_ , he doesn’t say. Puck used to need that, too. Still does, sometimes, when his mom drinks too much. But Puck’s a big guy now. He wasn’t always, but he is now. But Blaine… Blaine’s so little.

“Blaine,” Finn says softly. “You’re one of us. You’re Burt’s, just like you’re Kurt’s.” _And mine_ , he adds in his head. _And Mom’s_. “Burt takes good care of us, you know.”

Blaine sighs. “I’m so tired,” he mutters, shifting a little before freezing with a hiss of pain. 

And, wow, Finn hasn’t wanted to kick the shit out of someone so much since he learned Karofsky threatened to kill Kurt. “Get some rest,” he orders. “You’re safe here.”

He backs away, waiting at the top of the stairs until he hears the door closed. 

And then he sprints downstairs, digs his phone out of his nest, and alternates calling Kurt and Burt and Mom until one of them picks up.


End file.
